


at once i knew i was not magnificent

by amorias



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-09-07 04:33:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8783326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amorias/pseuds/amorias
Summary: Going with Rip Hunter is a chance to be the hero Ray Palmer wants to be remembered as.





	

Ray Palmer has never wanted to be anything but a hero.

Everything he has done has led up to Rip coming and telling him and the rest of his future team that they are heroes in the future. Superheroes, with or without powers, and they save the world from threats along the timeline from the immortal Vandal Savage. Time travel is only a dream to him, and now it is coming true, and everything he has done, being thought dead, practically blowing himself up making the ATOM suit, crashing and burning, physically, emotionally, more times than he can count, is worth it, and maybe he's almost happy to ditch the present.

It's a chance to be the hero he is going to be remembered as, after all.

“I chose you all because, a hundred years from now, your lives have minimal effect on the recorded timeline.”

Then Rip tells them that, and all his illusions about his future crash around him when they all slowly come to realize that they are losers, insignificant and without legacy, and there is barely a thing any of them can do about it. Even stopping Savage probably wouldn't do a damn thing, and he knows that, but that doesn't stop him from still going on this adventure, throwing all of his energy and enthusiasm into a team that doesn't always want him. Events spiral out of his control, and he sacrifices his own well being and his feelings and his sanity for his friends more than once, and he wonders if any of it will make any difference at all.

He can stretch out his hands in front of him, and almost, _almost_ grab at the happiness that it in front of him, but just as he thinks he can do so, it slips from his grasp. Another aching in his chest, another broken suit, destroying his sense of purpose, his powers, and his place on the team, another senseless death that he feels lays in his hands.

Ray just wants to do the right thing, and maybe that makes him a boy scout. He wants them to like him and value him, but he just keeps spinning his wheels, screwing up for what he considers the greater good. He feels, and maybe deep down he _knows_ , that even now, his life will not have a large effect on the timeline, regardless of what happens. No descendents, no PalmerTech, nothing but a few misguided attempts at making everyone around him feel better about themselves and stay alive, while he is left behind, to live a life unimportant and unknown to the future.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Ray Palmer is too good for the world he is in and I love him and I wish everyone could just cut him some slack okay. Thanks for reading! Title from Holocene by Bon Iver.


End file.
